I was cast in ‘Thor’ back in 2009, so it sort of took me out of the running for anything tied to DC Comics.

It’s nice to have a pause to parent and to be more present at home, teaching them how to drive cars and navigate boys and all this sort of thing.

I’m not a country picker, really – I like a nice, beefy, raunchy sort of sound.

Being isolated and on-location can be helpful in terms of being completely dedicated to the work, but somebody like me can also be dangerous in terms of this intense sort of void that you kind...

People always assume that I’m some sort of party girl, and that’s such a misconception because I like staying home.

As African economies boom and businesses are created, one of the big questions this growth raises is that of third-level education: how can Africa develop a knowledge infrastructure to rival that of the west, a...

People are so used to having their lives filmed, they’re not even conscious of having cameras around. I still have that sort of suspicion when a camera comes out. I view it as a thing...

I am not one of the new media experts working all the time with my computers and the PowerPoints and things of that sort.

I think the musicians I play with solo do a certain thing that the musicians we play with with the Indigo Girls don’t do. It’s just a different thing. And it sort of steers my...

For a long time the people at my shows were sort of the Pantera-tattoo trucker guys, really cool dudes, but I don’t know what happened to them. That’s the crowd that I like, the ones...

Whenever you’re writing something that’s reflective, you have to put yourself through some sort of ordeal just to understand the way you’re feeling.

I’m the sort of person that doesn’t really have specific ‘inspiration.’ It probably comes more from my doubts and my desires.

Khomeini was not a puppet like Arafat or Qaddafi or the many other dictators I met in the Islamic world. He was a sort of Pope, a sort of king – a real leader.

I had two sisters, and we would love to get dressed up and pretend that we were chic, sophisticated ladies. And I think that was a great sort of preparation, in a way.

I sort of grew up doing theater. And that’s how I got into film, actually.

My favorite books are the ones that make me smile for hours after reading them. I want that for my readers, for the sweetness to linger. Sort of like chocolate, but without the calories.

I have a lot of influences. I like to sit down with the cinematographer a month before, and we’ll watch pieces of 20 or 30 movies. You’re basically the sum of all the experiences you’ve...

I’m certainly not your typical front-man material. Some people love being on stage and really open up, and I’m sort of the opposite of that. I don’t crave the spotlight. I’m still not comfortable even...

Whenever people are faced with any sort of adversity… they tend to gravitate toward things that make them comfortable, and things that they feel are important.

People are branded as either ‘fat’ or ‘skinny’ from an early age. You sort of never shake it, even if you end up losing weight.

Choosing sepia is all to do with trying to make the image look romantic and idealistic. It’s sort of a soft version of propaganda.

I got into acting to avoid politics of any sort so I could remain in a fantasy world.

My acting has always been in the world of comedy, but in my writing, other than writing sketches, I really am drawn to the balance between comedy and drama. I like things that sort of...

The real excitement and big deal for me started when I got cast in the first X-Men, which was sort of a fluke.

I’ve been working in Haiti 28 years – I thought I’d sort of seen it… I’ve gone through a number of coups, the storms of 2008, I thought, you know, that I’d seen things as...

I was a jock in college and high school, but I didn’t hang out with the jocks. I was sort of a nerd who didn’t look like a nerd. I never really fit into any...

I think a politician would be very, very cool to play. Or an American musician of some sort, or like an American pioneer like the Dohenys or the Rockefellers or something.

I hate American simplicity. I glory in the piling up of complications of every sort. If I could pronounce the name James in any different or more elaborate way I should be in favor of...

Haven’t you felt a peculiar sort of worry about the chair in your living room that no one sits in?

I was starting to buy into my own sort of stereotype in a way.

What I’ve learned about being a parent is how much you sort of secretly learn from everyone else and how valuable it is.

I suppose I sort of like effects that have some organic elements rather than ones that are entirely generated by a computer. Just because, no matter how complex the algorithm is, it’s still an algorithm.

In performance, you don’t always feel that sort of family bond right off the top. It sort of develops and grows over time.

I’m only sort of a politician.

I am turned into a sort of machine for observing facts and grinding out conclusions.

I think there’s a sort of satisfaction in defying people’s expectations.

You know, there are many alter egos and Gorillaz is a collective of alter egos, really. I think anyone who gets involved in it has to sort of accept that nothing is really as it...

I had always fantasized about going to the Pyramids, the Great Wall; I’ve always been sort of obsessed with the whole notion of Everest.

We have a way of dealing with information that has sort of personal – personally identifying information in it. But there are legitimate secrets – you know, your records with your doctor; that’s a legitimate...

I didn’t care too much for ballet, because you had to be more disciplined, and you sort of looked like everyone else. It required a certain kind of conformity that I didn’t feel like I...

I want to do some bigger films, so long as there’s some sort of exciting creative element or a good filmmaker behind them.

It often happens that the man who pursues the dollar too diligently finds it hard to catch, but if he will pursue some other and better goal, dollars come around to see what sort of...

You’re basically the sum of all the experiences you’ve ever had, and they’re sort of shaken up in you and reproduced in the things you create, and that includes seeing movies.

Some people love being onstage and really open up, and I’m sort of the opposite of that. I don’t crave the spotlight. I’m still not comfortable even talking onstage.

The Internet has become a bunch of interlinked but linguistically distinct and culturally specific spaces. There’s some interface between them, but there’s a lot less than there was years back when we were sort of...

I like things that make you grit your teeth. I like tucking my chin in and sort of leading into the storm. I like that feeling. I like it a lot.

I really like the idea of being a bit unpredictable. I’m known for being a nice, easy-going person with a straightforward exterior. So I think a bit of me wants to be sort of sly...

When generally people make race-based jokes to me – even if they’re not technically racist, they’re sort of based on me being Pakistani or whatever – on Twitter, you know, I block a lot of...

I felt that the biological clock was some myth to keep me from doing what I wanted to do. And so I rebelled against it in the ’90s. I thought it was a backlasher, some...

I never could have planned this, and now I’m in my ideal situation career-wise and just sort of where I am in my life, and I’m super happy with how everything’s going.